Dancing tby



J. H. KING.

DANCING TOY.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 4| i919.

1,322,456.. Patented Nov. 18, 1919.

DANCING TOY.

Application filed February 4, 1919.

To all wlw/m t may concern.'

Bc it known that I, JOHN HENRY KING, a citizenof the United States, residing at 1108 Mount Vernon St., Philadelphia, in the county of Philadelphia and State of Pennsylvania, have invented new and useful Improvements in Dancing Toys, of which the following' is a. specification.

The invention relates to gaines and toys, and more particularly to toys, and has for an object to provide a toy that may be employed for purposes of amusement, as well as for advertising or other purposes, and in which a simple apparatus and mechanism is used to bring about the effect of figures dancing upon a floor or platform.

rfhe invention comprehends among other features, a toy which might be more particularly termed a. dancing toy, and in which the iiguresare arranged to dance around a circular floor or platform, and in which each set of figures independent of the other, rotates around the circular floor or platform, and also turn about themselves eccentrically to the rotating axis, bringing about a. genuine dancing effect in which certain sets of the figures will come closer to each other and then move farther apart during the dancing operation.

Still further the invention comprehends dancing toy, in which the mechanism employed to bring about the desired result is of a simple construction, can be easily operated, and will not readily get out of order.

In the further disclosure of the invention, reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, constituting a part of this specication, in which similar characters of reference denote corresponding parts in all the views, and in which,-

Figure 1- is a vertical sectional View taken through the device showing a casing, the dancing figures and the relative position of the actuated apparatus.

Fig. 2- is a plan view of the platform and rotating element, the casing and figures having been removed, and with a portion of the operating or driving mechanism shown partially in sections.

Fig. 3- is a fragmentary plan view of a slightly modified form of device, and

Fig. lis a side elevation of the structure shown in Fig. 3.

Referring more particularly to the views, I provide a substantially rectangular casing 10, which may be made of wood, card-board Specification of Letters Patent. Patented Novi 18, 1919;

serial No. 274,904.

a vertically disposed stud 20 secured in a base block 21, in the casing l0. It will now be apparent that the rotation of the crank 12, will, through the medium of the belt 18 bring about the rotation of the driving element 19. A series of vertical studs 22 are secured in the driving element 19, and journaled on each stud is a suitablecircular platform 23, having a suitable floor covering 24- with a periphery of each Vplatform encircled by a friction band 25. Suitably keyed or otherwisesecured to the main upright or stud 2O is a. supplementary driving wheel 26, and having the periphery thereof, encircled by a friction band 27, thus providing the friction driving wheel with the encircling band. 27 in frictional contact with the friction bands 25 of the circular platforms 23. On each floor covering 24 of each platform 23, a plurality of figures 28 are suitably secured, and by reference to Fig'. 2, it will be seen that these figures are not mounted upon the central part of the iioor covering or centrally of the axis of the platform, but nearer the edge thereof, so that the figures will be disposed eccentrically of the axis of each platform. A covering 29 is provided for the top of the casing with openings 30 cut therein, through which the floor coverings 24 and platform appear, and the covering 29 may be made of any suitable material and polished or decorated to represent a floor, or finished oif in a wood effect.

Referring now to Figs. l, 2, it will be seen that when the supporting and driving Wheel or element 19 is rotated by the action of the belt 18, the circular platforms 28 will rotate with the driving element 19, and due to the fact that their friction bands are in frictional contact with the friction band 27'of the stationary centrally disposed friction element 26, each platform will be individually rotated about its own axis, aside from rotating around the central aXis of the supporting and driving element 19. This` will by having the figures mounted vnear the peripheries of the individual platforms, and

near the edges of the fioor coverings thereof, the rotation of the individual Yplatforms will cause the differentl setsl of figures to ,move toward and away from each other v:in the operation of the device thus bringing about a more realistic dancing effect, which would not appear if the figures were centrally mounted upon thefindividual platforms.

In Figs. 3, t, I show a slightly modified form of my device, and in which instance each individual platform `designated vby the numeral 23, is journaled upon an oE-set support or shaft 23h, with a suitable roller 23 also journaled on each angular support or off-set shaft fixed to the underside of the platform., a spring being provided in each instance, and designated by the numeral 23d, one end of said spring being secured to the support 23D, andthe yother end to the main supporting and driving wheel or element indicated Iby the numeral 19a, and which is substantially the same as the supporting and drivingelement shown in the .preferred form of myV invention.

From the foregoing description it will be seen that with the device set forth, a realistic dancing `effect is secured and as mentioned heretofore, I find that the same is success fully obtained by having the figures set to oneside or reccentri'cally of the supporting uprights or shafts of-the platforms on which the figures are mounted. I am aware that various forms of dancing toys have been employed heretofore, :but in a number of these cases I find that the figures are disposed centrally, with respect to the .axis of the rotating element .and thus they simply turn around, rotating on the axis, and are always substantially spaced an equal distance apart. In my ldevice however, by .having the figures close to the edge of the individual platforms upon which they are mounted, the figures move toward and away from each other., that is one set of figures will approach very close to, and almost contact with the adjacent set offigures at a certain time, and immediately thereafter will tend to move away from the secondset of figures, and it is by this action v Y they will tingle in the ordinary rotation of the device, tend to come in contact .with the belt, 1S, and upon striking the belt, in therotation of the device, the bells will be jingled to provide the necessary musical effect. It will of course. be understood that any other form of musical effect can also be used in connection with the device described, andfrom the foregoing it will be seen that the apparatus is of a simple construction, can be easily operated, and due to the simplicity of its parts cannot readily get out of order.

Having described my invention, I claim,- v A toy comprising in combination with a rotatable supporting and driving element, a plurality of platforms mounted to turn loosely upon said element and rotatable therewith about `its aXis,a centrally disposed friction element, means insuring frictional engagement between the platforms and the friction element to insure individual rotation of the platforms, when said friction ele- Jol-IN H. KING. 

